Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $18.05 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.4% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after purchasing an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $132.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $123.65 and a 200-day moving average of $125.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.